Italy’s Covid-19 death toll up by nearly 20% to 4,032

Italy’s death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on Friday rose to 4,032, in a 18.4-per-cent increase from Thursday.

In its daily bulletin, the Italian Civil Protection Agency also reports that the total number of contagions is up by almost 15 per cent to 47,021.

Recoveries are up by 15.5 per cent to 5,129, while the number of intensive care patients, a closely watched figure given the shortage of hospital beds, has risen by around 6 per cent, to 2,655.

Lombardy, which surrounds Milan, remained the region worst hit by the outbreak, with more than 22,000 cases and 2,549 deaths. Lazio, the region that include Rome, reports 1,008 cases and 43 deaths.